America’s Foreign Policy

During President Bush’s administration that lasted its full two terms, Americans became witnesses to the ever-growing changes in the world order. Recent developments in the Muslim world, the nuclear states in Asia, Iran, issues in global warming, the terrorist groups, the Middle East, the 9-11 attack, China, Saddam and the Iraqi war, U.S. economic recession, and a host of other world-changing events have taken most of the American Administration’s strategic and foreign policy skills in dealing with them.

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The Bush administration seemed to have learned its mistakes from Iraq. Its former approach of a presumptuous invasion for the early suppression of a supposed national security risk turned out to be a wrong step in realizing regional peace; Iraq did not possess any biological weapon, and it had resulted in the loss of countless American lives. This miscalculation, perhaps, has resulted in what we see today as a more restrained diplomatic approach to the problems in North Korea and in Iran, both claiming to in the process of nuclear weapons testing (Wright, 2006, p. 1).

All these factors had resulted in the re-awakening of ideologies within America’s society and leaders, and the administration itself. Idealism concerns itself solely with the welfare of mankind. It was this ideology that was responsible for the spreading of democracy and the fight for human rights, it was also the main factor for the Liberals’ supporting of the Iraq War (Wright, 2006, p. 1). Realism, meanwhile, is of the belief that the sole purpose of the American foreign policy is to serve American interests, and that as long as other nations don’t put American interests in danger, their domestic affairs is of no concern for the Americans (Wright, 2006, p. 1). And lastly, progressive realism underscores the need for a correlation among nations. It stresses a slogan: the betterment of one is for the betterment of all- wherein America will be at her productive-best if other nations will flourish as well (Wright, 2006, p. 1).

Reference

Wright, R. (2006, July 16). An American Foreign Policy That Both Realists and Idealists Should Fall in Love With. The New York Times.